Tag: dccomics

“Of course this title was going to be his pick of the week no matter if it turns out to be a turd sandwich served with a glass of warm Natursekt.” is probably the first thought when i declare that Mister Miracle no.1 is my comic of the week. And that is true because i already enjoyed last weeks New Gods Special more than is warranted.

Jack Kirby’s creations, and the figures from his Fourth World in particular, all have an aura around them; an honesty that has become a mainstay in contemporary comics but even years after their first publication feels like nothing else.
And in the centennial of the King Of Comics DC-Comics publishes a continuation of one of the most beloved figures and the Fourth World he inhabits that evokes an almost equal buzz as when i read Mister Miracle’s premiere issue.

Of course, DC made sure this book would cause a wave by giving writer Tom King and artist Mitch Gerards the keys to the Hot Rod that Grandpa built back in the day but Dad put a blanket upon because he did not get the time to continue the work (which is an elaborate metaphor for Grant Morisson’s work on the characters).

The comic opens with a facette that always was there in the beginning of Scott Free’s existence as the greatest escape artist there is, but twists it to the ultimate conclusion: only the best escape artist can built the ultimate trap for himself. But not only does the contraption put Mister Miracle in chains; the whole pantheon of the New Gods is trapped with him.
And as if that isn't enough to push against; Darkseid is.

But the story of this escape act would not work as well as it wasn’t for Mitch Gerards. He makes the characters stand out of their surroundings; gives them the boldness that is associated with New Gods and Forever People. But while Kirby gave us figures that feel like springs under permanent tension declaring their readiness to expand any moment by emanating the famous Kirby crackle, Gerards relies on their presence to instill the awesomeness of the figures.
He deepens the unrealiable nature of what we see on the page by working with distortions and in one instance even by placing pieces of adehsive tape on the page.

A downside to this issue is that a person that reads this issue without prior knowledge of the characters and their relations to each other and the larger DC-Universe could put it away with the thought of it being nothing more than DC trying to copy the “artsy fartsy” approach Tom King brought to the Vision or the Omega Men. But like with the two mentioned series, he examines an aspect of the character in his way, or in this case rather focuses on an ignored one: Scott Free was sent to a life of torture at the hands of Darkseid and Granny Goodness to secure a peace treaty that only was honored until it afforded Darkseid to further his power.

While i am counting the days until the second issue is officially released (September 13th) the sentence above presents the biggest stone in the way of this title to become more than just a Kirby acolyte’s favourite contemporary comic. But the events unfold in the broader continuity of the DC Universe, and when Darkseid is mentioned there is more at stake than just the city a hero is located at.

Mister Miracle no.1
published by DC-Comics
written by Tom King
art by Mitch Gerards
lettered by Clayton Clowes

Niv and i assembled to celebrate our show’s one year anniversary and talk about Batman amongst other pop-cultural relevant things. But it is the world’s greatest detective that we always end up talking about.

My buddy Niv and i but a bow on the ladt episode of our podcast for this year.
We talk about the movies we recently saw and plan on seeing, overanalyze a few movie trailers and take a moment to look back on nine months of podcasting.

I enjoy this series. It might be a bit convoluted concerning the plan of the martians, and someone will probably push the reset on this, but perhaps it will lead to that noir Martian Manhunter a private eye comic.

Still digging what is done with Superman these days. What a coincidence that the cop Supes punched is a shadow monster. Yeah, it’s comics and DC has to maintain a reputation for their property, but i wish the idea would have been explored further, making Superman a hero of the people again. Greg Pak would be the ideal writer for it.

For issue 66 we get to see a version of Bane. I shouldn’t have kept my eyes off that title, it is solid entertainment. Yeah, of course it is banking on the Adam West nostalgia, but isn’t that something wonderful?

Now that was a surprisingly good issue. It’s nice to see a superhero use his powers in an intelligent way. But it also can be seen as a way to fill pages with material the target audience feels comfortable with.
Anyway, i’m looking forward to the next issue.